Understanding Methane’s Impact on Climate Change

While most of the attention is still on CO₂, methane is quietly doing far more damage—over 80 times more potent in the short term and far harder to keep track of.

The problem is that most emissions are either poorly measured or not measured at all. We’re still relying on flyovers, rough estimates, or satellite snapshots that can’t pinpoint where the leak is or when it started.

What’s needed is high-resolution, real-time detection across large sites. That means fitting refineries, pipelines, and landfills with sensors and remote monitoring tools—not because regulators ask for it, but because fixing leaks quickly makes operational and commercial, as well as environmental sense.

A single leak from a compressor can release tonnes of methane every day. Catch it early and you cut emissions, improve safety, and avoid awkward conversations with investors and regulators.

Blue hydrogen is often framed as a clean alternative to grey hydrogen, but the methane footprint tells a different story. The upstream methane leakage from extraction, processing, and transport is rarely addressed, and even small leak rates can wipe out any theoretical climate benefit from carbon capture. In effect, blue hydrogen can become a methane delivery system dressed up as decarbonisation—unless those upstream emissions are measured, monitored, and eliminated.

The regulatory landscape is starting to shift. The US has passed tougher methane rules under the Inflation Reduction Act. The EU is pushing for mandatory leak detection and repair. But many companies still treat methane as a second-order problem, especially in sectors like waste and agriculture where monitoring is patchy at best.

And while industrial leaks are fixable, emissions from thawing permafrost are not. As Arctic regions warm, vast stores of ancient methane are beginning to escape. Once that accelerates, it’s game over for any realistic pathway to net zero.

To make things even worse, a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights that abandoned coal mines and oil and gas wells are now among the largest sources of methane emissions globally. If considered as a country, these emissions would rank fourth worldwide, surpassing those of Iran. The IEA estimates that cleaning up over 8 million abandoned onshore oil and gas sites would cost about $100 billion.

So we have a clear choice: act now where we can—by measuring and managing emissions properly—or deal with the consequences when the feedback loops take over.

Methane reduction is one of the cheapest, fastest ways to slow warming. But only if you actually measure it properly.